Falsafatuna
5278092
195091078
2008-03-01T10:06:02Z
Canley
380571
closed AFD - nomination withdrawn
'''Falsafatuna''' is a book by [[Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr]], published in 1959, which has been translated into English as '''Our Philosophy'''. It is a critique of European philosophy,<ref>{{cite book |title=Iraq Since 1958: From Revolution to Dictatorship |last=Farouk
-Sluglett
|first=Marion |coauthors=Sluglett, Peter |year=1987 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=071030238X |pages=p. 196 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=6bwNAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA196&dq=falsafatuna&as_brr=3&sig=4vyXmWziHWvHvg7-kH00lLtK5qk }}</ref> especially of capitalism and socialism,<ref>{{cite book |title=Contemporary Islamic Economic Thought |last=Haneef |first=Mohamed Aslam |year=1995 |publisher=Alhoda UK |isbn=983996044X |pages=p. 110 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=anMbTSwEb38C&pg=PA110&dq=falsafatuna&as_brr=3&sig=nonCKOfFAwnORkkf37oN5pXJ0zY }}</ref> from an Islamic viewpoint. It was aimed at secular youth in Iraq,<ref>{{cite book |title=Accounting for Fundamentalisms: The Dynamic Character of Movements |last=Marty |first=Martin E. |year=1994 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=0226508862 |pages=p. 539 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=dyzbdjDJ9OUC&pg=PA539&dq=falsafatuna&as_brr=3&sig=SpBQXuY2K1X2nq1oz4fE042IAtc }}</ref> and was written in response to the growth of communist ideas.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Renewal of Islamic Law |last=Chibli |first=Mallat |year=1993 |publisher=Cambridge University
Press |isbn=0521531225 |pages=p. 11 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=5oB4_tohQegC&pg=PA11&dq=falsafatuna&as_brr=3&sig=gUjQw9MD60lzn4VRS0rGHOwbPAg }}</ref>
The introduction of the book talks about the four major social schools of thought -- capitalism, communism and socialism, and Islam. According to Sadr, the capitalist system is "devoid of the philosophy on which every social system must rest...it is a [[Economic materialism|materialistic]] system, even though it is not based on a clearly outlined materialistic philosophy."(10) Capitalism creates big [[Production, costs, and pricing|producers]] who are constantly in need of larger [[market]]s and new countries to sell their products to. The individual feels responsible only for himself and feels like "he is in a constant fight, equipped with no weapons other than his personal powers, and provided with no purposes rather than his personal interests."(14) Sadr then attempts to explain the philosophy and flaws of the [[Marxism|Marxist]] school of thought. He feels that [[Karl Marx|Marx]] approached society through a materialistic perspective and sought to solve the problem of injust distribution of wealth by reconstructing society on socialist lines. Sadr says that it created a society where there was no motivation for the individual to work harder than needed and the "communist economy clashed with actual human nature". (16) Sadr then explains how Islam reconciles the personal motivations of the human being with social interests by creating [[morality]] and [[ethics]]. Human beings keep these values in mind and are "expected to evaluate all the steps they take....[according to] the satisfaction of God".(27)
The first part of the book elaborates on The Theory of Knowledge ([[Epistemology]]). The first chapter explains the source of human knowledge. Sadr explains the [[Platonic doctrine of recollection]], the theory of [[Rationalism]], the theory of [[Empiricism]], and finally the Islamic [[Dispossession Theory]]. Sadr refutes the Platonic doctrine on the basis that the link between the prior existing soul and the body is not justified. He supports Rationalism and says that "innate ideas exist in the soul potentially, and that they acquire the quality of being actual by the development and mental integration of the soul."(43) Sadr states that Empiricism does not provide a logical explanation for [[causality]] and philosophers such as [[George Berkeley]] and [[David Hume]] were unable to provide sufficient explanations for [[causality]] solely on the basis of sense perception.
Sadr then explains the stance of the [[Positivist]] school of philosophy and labels it as an extension of the Empirical school that refutes philosophical propositions calling them "meaningless" because they are not subject to sense experience and related to what is beyond nature (68). He explains that in this endeavour the positivists contradict themselves by borrowing a metaphyical notion to destroy the idea of [[metaphysics]].(69) Sadr admits towards the end of the chapter that "[rationalist] philosophy assists the empirical method in science by means of rational principles and rules which the scientist employs for the purpose of moving from direct experience to a general scientific law".(71)
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* [http://www.muslimphilosophy.com/op/toc.htm Text of ''Falsafatuna'' (Our Philosophy)], online at Muslim philosophy website {{en icon}}
[[Category:Islamic philosophy]]
[[Category:Islamic studies books]]